Metal Gear Solid Series - Top 5 Boss Battles

5. Olga (MGS2)

For anyone who's played MGS2 on Hard, the Olga battle is intense and incredibly challenging. On hard, She becomes a head shot sharpshooter and the battle elevates to Wild West Shooter proportions. Of course this isn't even taking into account the amazing atmosphere, graphics and weather effects.

4. Fatman (MGS2) An incredibly fun and new boss battle where you had to fight the boss and defuse bombs, plus Fatman was on roller blades.

3. The End (MGS3)/Sniper Wolf (MGS1)/Crying Wolf (MGS4)

Yes, it's a little cheap to group all the sniper battles together, but at least I've ranked them from left to right. Obviously, The End which gave players several ways to fight was genious. Sniper Wolf started it all, and Crying Wolf brings a whole new atmosphere and intense situation where you are hiding from Frogs and fighting a boss.

2. The Fury(MGS3)

Visually, this boss battle was breathtaking and truly showed off the power of PS2. It's also an incredibly fun fight where you are constantly hiding in the shadows, setting traps, and firing at the man in a spacesuit.

1. Psycho Mantis (MGS1)

Nothing beats Psycho Mantis when it comes to memorable boss battles. Not only did he read off all of your save files, but he was also unbeatable unless you switched to controller port 2. This trickery definitely goes down in history as one of Kojima's best.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a tough game to review for a few reasons:
1. I am a huge MGS fan so my expectations are very high
2. MGS4 is split over 5 distinct and different acts
3. MGS4's action and gameplay peaks early at about act 3

Please take a look at all my metal gear solid coverage and impressions to get a better idea of the gameplay elements, graphics, etc. that went into this review.

Gameplay: 10/10
Pros: The gameplay of Metal Gear Solid has always been impeccable and this latest version updates the controls and amps up the action. Gameplay drastically changes with each act introducing something new (from Mech Arcade action to motorcycle getaways). The new "combat zone" sneaking missions are extremely fun, flexible, and multifaceted. Metal Gear Online is a great addition that adds a ton of replayability, longevity and value to the product.
Cons: As a long time Metal Gear fan, I wish that there was one act that focused solely on sneaking into a military installation against human guards. I think this could've easily been achieved in Act 4 to give long time fans what they wanted. The final acts are also extremely short with a story I did not find as engaging as previous titles. Without MGO, Gameplay would certainly be docked some points.

Graphics: 10/10
Pros: The Graphics are hands down the best looking visuals of any video game out there and truly show off the Playstation 3's power. What is even more impressive is the excellent animation, high framerates, in-game cutscenes, and diversity of level visuals. A true Technical achievement likely to be unsurpassed for a few years.

Sound/Music: 10/10
Pros: The Music is stellar and the game includes a large selection of tracks that encompass the whole Metal Gear Series. The sound is also impeccable and features dolby digital surround sound that truly makes you feel like you are on the battlefield. The Voice Acting is also very strong...especially David Hayter and Quinton Flynn.

Cons: There is some lame scripting and bad voice acting / cutscenes that are just too dramatic or poorly executed.

Lasting Appeal: 10/10

Pros: Immediately after finishing the game, I wanted to play the campaign all over again. This speaks very highly of the incredibly enjoyable Acts 1-3 not to mention the ranks you earn and items you unlock. The campaign clocks in around 20 hours and you'll want to finish the story and see what lies next throughout the single player. There is also the fantastic addition of Metal Gear Online which is a much improved and graphically stunning update to the Metal Gear Multiplayer found in Metal Gear 3: Subsistence.

Cons: The story just didn't capture me as much as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Furthermore, I felt the boss battles (and bosses themselves) were superior in MGS3 all around with a few of the other best battles being in MGS2 and MGS1. Maybe it is not fair to compare a fantastic game to all of its previous fantastic iterations, but in many ways MGS4 is the most unlike all the other games in the series and that is not always a good thing.

Average: 100%

Tilt: -1.00%

It may be unfair to expect the same from each Metal Gear game, but at the same time Metal Gear Solid 4 is just short of perfect. While each successive metal gear game improved on aspects of the previous title, Metal Gear Solid 4 is the first title to improve aspects of the game while making some missteps along the way. I would rank the story 3rd out of the 4 games in the series (Snake Eater, MGS1, MGS4, MGS2) and probably 3rd or 4th in Boss Battles. At the same time, Acts 1 and 2 offer some of the greatest innovations the series has seen and create some incredible moments...even if it feels a little un-Metal Gear. That's really the only flaw with Metal Gear Solid 4... it peaks too early...and as the game slows down in Act 4 it misses an opportunity to pay homage to fans of the sneaking, tranqing and trickery found in MGS1-3. Act 5 is pretty much a movie, which ends the whole thing on a sour note. All the negativity aside, Metal Gear Solid 4 is a gaming masterpiece. It is a graphical powerhouse and evolves the gameplay of Metal Gear immensely and opens it up more to the Western Market. While it has its shortcomings, It definitely makes you want to pop in the previous games into your playstation 3 and play them all over again...if only there was a graphically updated MGS1: Twin Snakes for Playstation...oh well, I'll just start with Metal Gear 2.

Verdict: 99%

Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions - Act 5

----SPOILERS AHEAD----

Well, a huge ship crashing into Raiden didn't kill him after all. He returns in Act 5 without arms to help out Snake once again. Act 5 is definitely the shortest (gameplay wise) and most disappointing act so far. Again, MGS4 misses its opportunity to create a "classic" sneaking mission on the arsenal gear ship. Basically if you tranq any Frog soldiers....caution mode insues... and if you get alert phase, it's just an all out war. The act really only consists of sneaking to one door, fighting a bunch of Frogs, fighting Screaming Mantis, crawling to the GW AI, and a culminates in a Brawl with Liquid.

The boss fight with Screaming Mantis is original and different than other boss fights which is nice, and Metal Gear throws completely new gameplay at your with a one-on-one street fight boss with Liquid. I have to admit that as the game began to come to a close, I started recollecting on past Metal Gear Boss fights, story arcs, and gameplay. It's a shame that this game starts with a bang and fizzles out. It doesn't help that MGS3: Snake Eater has a better & more involved plot either. I'm not going to critique the use of cinematics, since I watched them all and have always liked the stories and movies in the Metal Gear games. It's just surprising how drastically the gameplay in this game changes from locale to locale. That certainly wasn't the case with Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, & 3. On the one hand, it's really impressive that Kojima & friends spent the time to code this sections so expertly without feeling tacked on....on the other hand, I was left without a chapter that truly paid homage to the gameplay found in MGS1-3. So with Act 5, I am left with some disappointment...though I still have the Epilogue (probably all cinemas) to go. Look for a Review on Monday.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions - Act 4

Well the new locales and diversity of graphics continue. Gameplay changes once again as well and focuses on sneaking and fighting mechanized opponents.

----SPOILER ALERT----
Act 4 takes us back to Metal Gear Solid 1 to Shadow Moses in pursuit of Metal Gear Rex. Act 4 has a lot of nostalgic moments, but the best was definitely when an old song from MGS1 kicks in as you journey through the snow to infiltrate the Shadow Moses Facility. I really enjoyed the music and atmosphere of this level and the snow effects are incredible. The cold frosts the screen, snowflakes stick to the camera, and winds kick up snow that greatly reduces your vision. As always the graphics are incredible.


Gameplay wise, this act was the most up and down for me. The boss battle with Crying Wolf is definitely the best Beauty and the Beast fight yet, but sneaking around the Shadow Moses facility would have been a lot better with a more traditional human security detail. I would've really liked an act that focused on the gameplay found in Metal Gear Solid 1 or 2 where you can sneak up behind troops and choke, tranq, or kill them. Instead, Shadow Moses is filled with Gekkos and Mantis 3 armed machines....It was a missed opportunity to give Metal Gear fans an act (in the same locale as the first MGS) with gameplay from the older titles.

The act does close with a battle against Vamp which had an interesting way towards victor.
---MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD---
Injecting Vamp with the NanoMachine Syringe stops his healing ability and leads to Raiden finally finishing him off. Act 4's deaths don't end there as Naomi and Raiden bite the dust before Liquid escapes on his Outer Haven Battleship/Sub. The gameplay does mix things up and keep things fresh by introducing a mech battle with Rex vs. Ray at the end of the chapter. The mech controls/battle is actually pretty damn fun and another highlight of the act.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions- Act 3

-------SPOILER ALERT----
So Act 3 definitely takes MGS4 into both another unrevealed locale and featured practically no cutscenes featured in any of the trailers (minus the shot of Big Mama in the church) so beware of spoilers.


--------SPOILERS START HERE--------

So after finishing off Laughing Octopus in Act 2 and a daring escape w/ Drebin, Raiden, and Naomi, Snake departs for Eastern Europe in search of Big Mama who has the body of Big Boss who is the key to Liquid's plan. Eastern Europe pretty much looks like it was modeled after London. It even includes a dreary night time atmospheric. With each new act, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots knocks your socks off with new graphical touches and effects.



Gameplay changed significantly for this act. It was a lot more similar to older Metal Gear Solid titles but still offered a new objectives. Your mission is to tail resistance soldiers to Big Mama's location. You help the Resistance Soldier along the way by taking out PMC troops searching for people breaking curfew. The level was actually a lot easier than others I thought. The level culminates with a Motorcycle getaway and a battle with Raging Raven. That's 2 Beauty and the Beasts down and 2 to go.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions - Act 2

Well Act I pretty much closed with Liquid driving all the soldiers crazy as seen in another trailer. This led to the next mission briefing which featured a scared Naomi Hunter on a handheld camera.

Act 2 takes us to South America in search of Naomi Hunter. This locale is very reminiscent of MGS3: Snake Eater since it takes place in a jungle setting with facility outposts along the way. The highlight of this act definitely takes place during a rebel army and PMC shootout surrounding a Mansion. Stepping inside the mansion really shows off this games graphics once again. I have still found myself allying myself with the rebels/militia so that I only have to sneak past half of the baddies on screen. There were some great sniping spots coming up the mountain as well. Eventually, I found Naomi (and Drebin along the way) and she has divulged some more information on Snake's advanced aging and conducted some tests. How many acts does this game have? I hope quite a few. I am really impressed with the diversity of graphics and locales and have only played up to Act 2: Solid Sun. Gameplay just barely feels like Metal Gear, but I'm told that near the end it becomes more "classic" Metal Gear sneaking, which I'm looking forward to.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions - Act I

I have fought the Frogs and lived to tell about it. That's about as far as I have made it into Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots campaign, so don't worry there will be no spoilers. In fact, I don't think I have seen a cutscene yet that hasn't been included in one of the trailers.

Let me start off by the negatives that immediately gave me a pang of doubt in MGS4. First is that the game must be installed on your system. This is a very big annoyance when you've been waiting for this game, but ultimately it doesn't take that long...but I have to nitpick. The real WTF moment for me has nothing to do with the game or its cutscenes. I have seen 3 (so far) live action pieces / cutscenes that should not have been put on the disc. 2 came up as I started my new game. 1 was a "Who wants to be a Millionaire" spoof where the answer to the questions were about the war economy. The other one was some weird ad with women shooting harpoons and being entangled by an octopus with a skull....WTF exactly. The other live action piece was much more digestable and just a simple scene of a frying pan, little girl's voice (possibly Sunny), and 2 eggs cracked and cooked. This scene popped up right as the "Act I" text came up.

My only complaint about the gameplay / cutscenes so far is that the jokes about Johnny "Akiba" of rat patrol go way too far. It's typical Kojima humor but it's a little too in the face (you'll see what I mean).

As far as gameplay and the rest of the game goes....wow! MGS4 feels a lot different than it's predecessors and the scale/size of the maps are staggering. I have had to refer to my map several times and even gotten lost in the winding tunnels of a militia outpost. The warzone setting is incredible exciting and the Militia vs. PMC battle where I allied myself with the Militia and participated in their war has been a highlight that culminated in a PMC airstrike. Is this even Metal Gear? Yes it is and it's better than ever, because this immediately followed with the first "boss' battle against the Frogs. In typical, Metal Gear Solid Fashion, the battle with the Frogs is very similar to early boss battles that are just forced action/fight sequences (such as MGS gunfight with Meryl along your side). It's made even easier because you have Rat Patrol (Meryl again) gunning away with you.

...I'm on my way to find Liquid's camp now...more to come later.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Released Tomorrow

Finally, the PS3 killer app is released tomorrow. Metal Gear Solid 4 is currently at 93/100 on Metacritic. Many of the reviewers are european magazines/websites, so hopefully when the US publications start reviewing it, the score will be pushed up some more. Needless to say, I'll be picking up my copy on Thursday and will be playing it fanatically until I beat it. I'll send some previews/impressions along my way and give a full review when I've sunk my teeth into it enough. I can't wait to shoot at some of the Beauty & Beast bosses above!

Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta Impressions

The Metal Gear Online Beta finally launched Friday after a delay and numerous and complex login issues. Luckily, I had already acquired my Konami Id & game id, so I just had to login, create a character and hit start. Despite the clunkiness and ridiculous amount of login ids/names, the metal gear beta is a great taste of what is to come June 12th. Let me start off by saying that Metal Gear Online is not all that different from the online mode that shipped with Metal Gear 3: Subsistence. Many of the modes and ideas from that first attempt have made it into Metal Gear Online. The two biggest changes from the PS2 metal gear online are the controls, and SOP. The controls in Metal Gear Online are a vast improvement. The over the shoulder camera/aiming system is leaps and bounds better (think RE4/GRAW/Gears of War)than the old lock on and hold square. Luckily square isn't even attack/fire anymore....R1 and R2 serve as primary and secondary fire giving Metal Gear Online a much more FPS feel. It's also easier to switch to First Person now and only requires the tap of Triangle while you are aiming. Don't get me wrong, MGO plays absolutely nothing like Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3. It took me a good hour to get back into the Metal Gear mindset and controls. Luckily the beta has a fantastic tutorial and solo training mode which allows you to shoot at practice targets and teaches you the basic controls. The other big change is the Sons of the Patriots or SOP system. This system allows you to link up with comrades and see where they are (even through walls), where they are aiming, and in many cases, where enemies are located. The SOP system is very slick along with being technically and graphically impressive. Metal Gear Online is about Teamwork and communication and SOP ties into all of that. If you liked the online mode with Metal Gear Solid 3, you should definitely preorder Metal Gear 4 and check out the online beta. It's a vastly improved version of the ps2 online mode and shows off the graphical prowess of the playstation 3. Metal Gear Solid 4 looks to truly showcase the Playstation 3 and has a great array of online features (clans, friends list, ranking, automatching, skill levels, skill upgrades, exp, etc.). That's all for now. Let's get back to some Metal Gear Online Headshots.

Download the Metal Gear Online Beta Now

Metal Gear Online is available to download (if you preordered MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots and received the bonus DVD). It's pretty easy to download, just go to account management, transaction management and then enter your promotional code.

You can't play the game yet (that goes live April 21st for 2 weeks), but you can check out the menus and a trailer. You may want to take the time to download the game and sign up for a Konami ID before monday since I am sure that things will be slower the day of.

The download and install process was pretty quick. Now Metal Gear Online and MGS4 just have to live up to the hype and expectations of gamers. Metal Gear has been one of the best series for 20 years now, so I am confident this will be the Playstation system seller it is meant to be. More to come when the Beta Launches.

Metal Gears Solid 2 - Story Explanation

No, I am not going to delve into every aspect of the Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Story, but I will attempt to defend this highly criticized story. The big deal with MGS2 is two-fold: 1- You play the majority of the game as Raiden and not Snake and 2- The ending/VR thing with Raiden at the end makes little sense. The reason for the confusion and ambiguity - PostModernism. Postmodernism is blatantly present throughout Metal Gear Solid 2. Largely influenced by the disillusionment induced by the WW2, postmodernism tends to refer to a cultural, intellectual, or artistic state lacking a clear central hierarchy or organizing principle and embodying extreme complexity, contradiction, ambiguity, diversity, and interconnectedness or interreferentiality. Now having a nonsensical plot is not an argument for PostModernism, but take for instance the ambiguity of Raiden himself. Raiden is a character in MGS2, but we also learn that he has played through VR missions and Shadow Moses (or MGS1) as Snake. In fact, his codename is changed from Snake to Raiden at the start of his mission. The parallels between Raiden's experience and the players is certainly there. Raiden not only represents the videogame player, he could very well be the video game player/you. This type of contradiction and ambiguity is present in nearly all postmodern works. Another huge aspect of the MGS2 story is Deconstruction which is a central theme in many postmodern works. I will let wikipedia explain:

"In its original use, a "deconstruction" is an important textual "occurrence" described and analyzed by many postmodern authors and philosophers. They argue that aspects in the text itself would undermine its own authority or assumptions and that internal contradictions would erase boundaries or categories which the work relied on or asserted. Poststructuralists beginning with Jacques Derrida, who coined the term, argued that the existence of deconstructions implied that there was no intrinsic essence to a text, merely the contrast of difference. This is analogous to the scientific idea that only the variations are real, that there is no established norm to a genetic population, or the idea that the difference in perception between black and white is the context. A deconstruction is created when the "deeper" substance of text opposes the text's more "superficial" form."

The ending of Metal Gear Solid certainly toys with the reality of the universe and makes you aware that your character was involved in a VR game and that you are indeed playing a game based on a false reality. Sons of Liberty undermines its own authority and plays with both the player and character of Raiden in order to erase the boundary of game/reality even while making these contradiction all the more obvious. I think the quote above: "This is analogous to the scientific idea that only the variations are real, that there is no established norm to a genetic population" is a pretty good one sentence description of the theme (at least one of them) in Metal Gear Solid 2. Just something to consider.

MGS4 GC2007 Trailer

Metal Gear Solid 1 had FOXHOUND
MGS2: Sons of Liberty had Dead Cell
MGS3: Snake Eater had the Cobra Unit
and it seems that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will feature the fearsome 4 of Beauty and the Beast. Check out the trailer to see these 4 ladies in action.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Demo & Metal Gear Online

Sony has really stepped it up since E3. The PS3 $100 price drop (while limited to the supply of the 60GB model) was immediately successful and boosted the PS3 to the top spot/most sold item on Amazon.com where it currently sits at number 2 today (Wii has reclaimed number 1 most sold in the Video Game Category). Xbox 360 Elite is 22nd. Sony has managed to show a lot of great games for the PS3 lately too. They've kept Metal Gear Solid 4 and Konami has announced another game Metal Gear Online which will feature the multiplayer element a little further down the road. Sony has assured that I will pick up a PS3 in the near future with they current strategy and I am sure many other gamers as well. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a must have title and the Online game sounds fantastic as well. Cheers Sony.